Dorchester Illustration 2357 William H. Nutter

Posted on June 17, 2018 by earltaylor

2357- William H. Nutter

Dorchester Illustration no. 2357   William H. Nutter

At the Dorchester Historical Society, we are in the process of a year-long project to commemorate the 100 year anniversary of World War I. Using a collection of photographs we have of World War I Dorchester residents, we will be featuring soldiers in a number of short biographies throughout the year. At the culmination of the project, we hope to produce an online exhibit which highlights these men and their service to our country.

Our next biography features: William H. Nutter

William H. Nutter was born in Groveland, Massachusetts on June 21, 1874, to William A. and Judith (Eaton) Nutter. According to his obituary, he spent most of his childhood near the ocean around Newburyport and Portsmouth, NH. He attended Williams College in Williamstown, Massachusetts where he graduated in 1897.

After graduation, it appears William moved to Boston. In 1908, he married Maria Curry at the Cathedral of the Holy Cross in the South End of Boston. His marriage record lists his occupation as “broker.” The newly married couple soon made their home in Dorchester, and by 1910, are living on Greenock Street, near Franklin Field. However, now William’s occupation is listed as a salesman in the “trading stamps” industry. The couple also has a newborn daughter, Marion, who was born in June of 1909.

According to Dr. Perkins’s notes, William was sent to Mexico during the Mexican Revolution to work as a war correspondent. The picture that we have of him was taken in Mexico with General Huerta’s Federal Army in 1914. He was also witness to the “campaign at San Pedro de Las Colonias where decisive Battles of the Carrancista rebellion were fought.” When he returned to the United States, it appears William continued writing. When he registered for the draft in September of 1918, his occupation is listed as “author” and he is listed as not having an employer. Additionally, it appears as though him and his family have now moved to Mora Street in Dorchester’s Codman Hill neighborhood.

In 1918, William was issued a passport by the State Department in order to work with the Young Men’s Christian Association (Y.M.C.A.) during World War I. Since August of 1917, when General Pershing issued a general order, the Y.M.C.A. had been providing social services to troops in Europe. A note attached to William’s passport application indicates he was being sent overseas on a mission with the American Expeditionary Forces in connection with the Y.M.C.A. Dr. Perkins’s notes indicate that William spent about eight months in France and was detailed to “historical research work.” While he was there, he was stationed in Toul at the Headquarters of the Second Army and was also the manager of the Officers’ Club at Toul.

After the war, William is found still living in Dorchester with his wife and daughter on Marion Street. Although the census lists him as a salesman in the advertising industry, William must have still been writing. In fact, he had a recurring adventure series in the Boston Journal titled “Liverpool Jarge.” At some point during his writing career, he began using the pseudonym “Halliday Witherspoon” and in 1922, he published a book based on his newspaper series under that name titled “Liverpool Jarge.” Today, you can still read his book online (https://hdl.handle.net/2027/njp.32101067626539)!

By 1930, the Nutter family had moved to Dedham where they would remain until William’s death in 1941. William died on March 19 in 1941, and was buried in the family plot in Groveland, Massachusetts.

Do you have a family member from Dorchester who served in Word War I?  Please let us know.  Do you know more about William H. Nutter? We would love to hear from you! All material has been researched by volunteers at the Dorchester Historical Society, so please let us know if we got something wrong or you think a piece of the story is missing!

Sources

Ancestry.com and The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. 1880 United States Federal Census [database on-line]. Lehi, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations Inc, 2010.

Ancestry.com. 1910 United States Federal Census [database on-line]. Lehi, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations Inc, 2006.

Ancestry.com. 1920 United States Federal Census [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations Inc, 2010.

Ancestry.com. 1930 United States Federal Census [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations Inc, 2002.

Ancestry.com. 1940 United States Federal Census [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations Inc, 2012.

Ancestry.com. Massachusetts Birth Records, 1840-1915 [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations Inc, 2013.

Ancestry.com. Massachusetts, Marriage Records, 1840-1915 [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2013.

Ancestry.com. U.S. City Directories, 1822-1995 [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations Inc, 2011.

Ancestry.com. U.S. Passport Applications, 1795-1925 [database on-line]. Lehi, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2007.

Ancestry.com. U.S., World War I Draft Registration Cards, 1917-1918 [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations Inc, 2005.

Dr. Perkins World War I collection, Dorchester Historical Society, Boston, MA.

“William H. Nutter” obituary. Boston Globe, 21 March 1941.

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June 17, 2018 Sunday 2 pm Elizabeth Coachman will speak on Dr. Mary Safford gynecologic surgeon, writer, feminist

Posted on June 12, 2018 by earltaylor

Mary Jane Safford, MD, Indomitable Mite at 72 dpi

June 17 Sunday 2 pm Elizabeth Coachman will speak about her book about Dr. Mary Safford

Mary Jane Safford, MD: Indomitable Mite by Elizabeth I Coachman, MD

This is the first comprehensive biography of 19th century physician, writer, feminist, progressive reformer, and lecturer Dr. Mary Jane Safford who led an extraordinarily adventurous life. Her uncanny ability to appear in the right places and times to experience and make true history was akin to Forrest Gump’s similar but fictional talent. From the poverty of youth and through a series of adventures’ leading to her becoming a European-trained, gynecologic surgeon, Dr. Safford rose to a fame larger than life. She spoke and wrote prolifically on travel, progressive reforms, racial equality and medicine. Among her associates were notable 19th century figures. Later in life, she became one of Florida’s first trained women physicians and helped found a Florida community. Dr. Coachman’s 10-year research odyssey has led to rediscovery of Dr. Safford’s most intriguing life story. 2nd edition with larger type font than first edition.  Our Dorchester connection is that Safford married a Dorchester Blake.

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Dorchester Illustration 2356 Ralph Watson Fearing

Posted on June 10, 2018 by earltaylor

2356 Ralph Watson Fearing

Dorchester Illustration no. 2356   Ralph Watson Fearing

At the Dorchester Historical Society, we are in the process of a year-long project to commemorate the 100th anniversary of World War I. Using a collection of photographs we have of WWI Dorchester residents, we will be featuring servicemen in a number of short biographies throughout the year. At the culmination of the project, we hope to produce an online exhibit which highlights these men and their service to our country.

Our next biography features:RALPH WATSON FEARING 1924.0001.113

Ralph Watson Fearing was born on May 15, 1894, on Prospect Street, Hingham, Massachusetts to Watson Burbank Fearing of Hingham, MA. and Eva L. Sawyer of Hillsboro, N.H. His father was a Superintendant of a milk farm in Hingham.

But by 1900, the family was living at 951 Washington Street, Dorchester, Massachusetts. Ralph, age 6, had 4 siblings, all girls; Emma (21), Martha (15), Ruth (9) and Mary (1). There were 3 male boarders. The father was a milkman.In 1910, most of the family was still living together including the oldest sister with her husband, an additional child, a younger brother Albert, an uncle, 2 female servants and 5 male employees. The father was listed as a dairy farm farmer.

Ralph graduated from the Gilbert Stuart School,then Dorchester High School in 1912. He attended Worcester Academy for 1 year and then graduated from Massachusetts Agricultural College in 1917.

Ralph, age 23 registered for the draft on June 5, 1917 at the local board 21. He was still living at 951 Washington Street, Dorchester and working for his father as a farmer at W. B. Fearing Company (Codman Farm), Dorchester. He is listed as medium height and build with blue eyes and light brown hair. He indicated that he had poor eyesight. Never the less, he was inducted into the Regular Army on January 5, 1918 and entered Officers Training School at Camp Upton. He served in Co D, 307th Infantry and as Private 1st Class and went overseas, leaving New York on April 7, 1918 on the ship “Justicia”. He was promoted to Corporal on April 16, 1918, Sergeant on January 3, 1918 and was engaged in Defense Sector at Baccarat. He was honorably discharged on July 12, 1918 to accept a commission as Second Lieutenant August 1918. He served in several battles and was wounded in the legs by machine gun fire in the battle of Argonne. By the end of September, he had been in a base hospital for several weeks before being sent to a convalescent camp or hospital at Hyeres, Southern France, on the shore of the Mediterranean on November 29, 1918.  He was discharged from the Army and arrived home February 1, 1919.

In 1920, Ralph was living with his parents and 2 of his siblings. There were 5 male lodgers and Ralph is President of the Co-op. But he is not home for long as in the early 1920s, he moved to California and worked for the Electric Railway.

On June 13, 1930, Ralph married Esther M. Waldeen of Minnesota in the Ebenezer Lutheran Church, San Francisco. In 1940, they were still living in San Francisco. They had 3 children; Watson, Edward and Isabel. Ralph was a Power Station Operator for the Electric Railway.

Ralph again registered for the draft in 1942 when he was employed by the Market Street Railway with offices at 11th& Bryant Street, San Francisco.

He died on February 12, 1972 at about age 80, in Sisikiyou, California and is buried in the Etna Cemetery. He was survived by his wife who died in 1989 at about age 89.

Do you know more about Ralph Watson Fearing? We would love to hear from you! All material has been researched by volunteers  at the Dorchester Historical Society, so please let us know if we got something wrong or you think a piece of the story is missing!

REFERENCES:

Army Transport & Service Passenger List, Ancestry.com

Birth Records, FamilySearch.org

Census Records, Federal, 1900, 1910, 1920, 1940; FamilySearch.org

City Directories, Ancestry.com

Death record; FamilySearch.org

Draft Registration, 1917 and 1942; FamilySearch.org

Dr. Perkins’ notes

Fearing Family Tree; FamilySearch.org

Graduation program, Boston City Archives

Marriage Record, FamilySearch.org and Ancestry.com

Service Record; The Adjutant General Office, Archives-Museum Branch, Concord, MA

 

 

The archive of these historical posts can be viewed on the blog at

www.dorchesterhistoricalsocietyblog.org

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Dorchester Illustration 2355 Franklin Hill

Posted on June 3, 2018 by earltaylor

2355 Julius Ansel Franklin Hill Public Housing Development 09-21-1951

Dorchester Illustration no. 2355   Franklin Hill

In September 1951 City Councilor Julius Ansel (on the left) and Mayor John B. Hynes posed for this photograph at the ceremonies held for the ground-breaking of the new Franklin Hill Avenue Public Housing Development.  Designed for 375 families, the development is located across Blue Hill Avenue from Franklin Field, between American Legion Highway and Harvard Street.  At the time, it included 9 three-story brick buildings constructed by John Bowen Company, Inc., of Dorchester.

The property was redeveloped in 2010 by Trinity Financial.  Their website says ” The 266 affordable units in the complex are now a shining example of new, energy-efficient urban housing, with a mix of townhouses and mid-rise buildings offering different amenities and lifestyle choices for the residents. The 118 townhouse residents have their own back yards. Each townhouse has its own washer and dryer. The 148 residents of the three mid-rise buildings — two with six floors and one with five floors– have a laundry on each floor with one washer and dryer in each. They also, of course, have elevators.”

Julius Ansel, who died in 1965, worked out of the G&G Deli, even putting the G&G’s telpehone number on his business cards. He served as city councilor from 1948 to 1951, state representative from 1953 to 1955 and again from 1959 to 1965, and state senator in 1965.

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Dorchester Illustration 2354 Liberty Theatre

Posted on May 27, 2018 by earltaylor

2354 Liberty Theater

Dorchester Illustration no. 2354   Liberty Theatre

Dorchester once had lots of neighborhood movie theatres.

Today we have a photo of the Liberty Theatre located on Blue Hill Avenue between Esmond and Charlotte Streets.  Built in the 1920s, I am not sure how long it survived.  The entrance seems to be demolished.

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Dorchester Illutration 2353 Edgar L. Wood

Posted on May 20, 2018 by earltaylor

2353 Edgar L Wood

Dorchester Illustration no. 2353    Edgar L. Wood

At the Dorchester Historical Society, we are in the process of a year-long project to commemorate the 100 year anniversary of World War I. Using a collection of photographs we have of World War I Dorchester residents, we will be featuring soldiers in a number of short biographies throughout the year. Most of the collection is a series of cards and photographs of men and women who were examined by Dr. Nathaniel R. Perkins of 1122 Adams Street prior to entry into service.  At the culmination of the project, we hope to produce an online exhibit which highlights these men and their service to our country.

Edgar L. Wood

Notes from card in Perkins collection: Edgar L Wood 165 Infantry Co D 1162 Adams St Selected Nov. 6, 1917. Camp Devens, Feb. 1918. In France A.E.F. Wounded in the July drive on the Marne.  Wound in the left forearm. Base Hospital 25 France.

Edgar was 28 years old when he joined the Army in November, 1917.  A.E.F. was the American Expeditionary Forces, established July 5, 1917, in France, under the command of Gen. John J. Pershing.

Wikipedia reports: The July drive on the Marne was the second battle of the Marne, 15 July to 6 August, 1918.  This was the last major German offensive on the Western Front. The attack failed when an Allied counterattack by French and American forces, including several hundred tanks, overwhelmed the Germans on their right flank, inflicting severe casualties. The German defeat marked the start of the relentless Allied advance which culminated in the Armistice with Germany about 100 days later.

The 1910 census reveals that Edgar, then 21 years old, was living with his family at 1162 Adams Street, where they rented.  The family included his parents Wheelock and Margaret, both born in Canada.  His father and older brother worked as teamsters at a grain store, and Edgar was a contractor.  He had three younger sisters.  They also had a lodger who worked in the chocolate mill.  The 1920 census shows that after his return from the war Edgar became a helper on a truck at the chocolate mill.  By this time the members of the family who were living at home were his parents; his brother, who was a book binder; Edgar, and two of his sisters, one a bookkeeper and the other a comptomatic operator in a woolen office. A comptomatic appears to have been a type of adding machine.

In later years Edgar is listed in city directories as a helper.  By 1922 the family moved to Vose Street.  About 1925 he married Bertha Upham.  In 1926 Edgar move to Springfield, married and had a daughter named Jean.  He became a warehouseman for an oil refinery company.  He died on August 22, 1977.

Source Citation

Year: 1910; Census Place: Boston Ward 24, Suffolk, Massachusetts; Roll: T624_624; Page: 12A; Enumeration District: 1631; FHL microfilm: 1374637

Source Information

Ancestry.com. 1910 United States Federal Census [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations Inc, 2006.

Source Citation

Year: 1920; Census Place: Boston Ward 21, Suffolk, Massachusetts; Roll: T625_739; Page: 4A; Enumeration District: 525; Image: 731

Source Information

Ancestry.com. 1920 United States Federal Census [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2010. Images reproduced by FamilySearch.

Source Citation

Year: 1940; Census Place: Springfield, Hampden, Massachusetts; Roll: T627_1711; Page: 12A; Enumeration District: 22-161

Source Information

Ancestry.com. 1940 United States Federal Census [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2012.

Source Information

Ancestry.com. U.S. City Directories, 1822-1995 [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2011.

 

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Dorchester Illustration 2352 Pauline Frederick

Posted on May 13, 2018 by earltaylor

2352 Pauline Frederick age 7

Dorchester Illustration no. 2352    Pauline Frederick, 1883-1938.

Pauline Frederick was a stage and screen actress of international reputation.  This photograph was taken when she was 7 years old.

Pauline Frederick was born Pauline Beatrice Libby on August 12, 1883.  She died Sept. 19, 1938.  When she was about a year old, her family moved from Boston to Dorchester.  In 1902 she began her career with a week’s engagement at the Boston Music Hall, and she soon moved to New York where she began in the chorus of “The Rogers Brothers in Harvard.”

Her beauty was legendary.  When the sculptor, Ulric Ellerhusen, was still unknown, he saw a picture of Pauline Frederick in a magazine and chose her as his model of a typical American girl.  The figure that he first created from the magazine illustration won him a prize, and he continued to use the same figure as the pattern for all his subsequent feminine models.  Thus, unbeknownst to Pauline Frederick until later, “her face and figure were molded in stone and bronze for several decades and appeared on many famous buildings, gracing memorial parks, state capitols and sculptured facades.  She was the figure of the twenty-one life-size statues on the Chapel of the University of Chicago and the model of Wonderment on the San Francisco Palace of Fine Arts, as well as the four fifty-foot figures on the State Capitol in Louisiana” among others.

Pauline Frederick played the role of Madame X and was known by this name as well.

 

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Dorchester Illustration 2351 Charles Willis Crowell

Posted on May 6, 2018 by earltaylor

2351 Charles Willis Crowell

Dorchester Illustration no. 2351    Charles Willis Crowell

At the Dorchester Historical Society, we are in the process of a year-long project to commemorate the 100-year anniversary of World War 1. Using a collection of photographs we have of World War 1 Dorchester residents, we will be featuring servicemen and women in a number of short biographies throughout the year. At the culmination of the project, we hope to produce an online exhibit which highlights these men and women and their service to our country.

We are so excited to be sharing our next biography for Charles Willis Crowell. After seeing our posts about World War I Dorchester veterans, Charles’s grandson, Theodore, sent us some information about his grandfather. We are happy to feature him and honor this World War I veteran!

Charles Willis Crowell

            Written by: Theodore Crowell (Charles’s grandson)

Charles was born May 21, 1897 in Brooklyn, Nova Scotia to Philip W. Crowell and Edith E. Sweet.  At the age of fourteen Charles immigrated to the United States with his brothers.  Charles lived and worked as a baker in Dorchester until joining the Army.

Charles was inducted into the Army on April 12, 1918 at the age of twenty years and eleven months.  Charles was trained at Camp Joseph E. Johnston, Florida. On June 12, 1918 in the United States District Court, South District, Jacksonville, Florida, petition was made, granted and ordered by the court that Charles WillisCrowell be admitted as a citizen of the United States of America.  Charles shipped out to France as part of the American Expeditionary Force on July 10, 1918. Charles was assigned to Motor Transport Company, 418th Regiment, Base Section 6(Marseille, France).  Charles served as a chauffeur, or today we would say truck driver.  During the war the Army was making a transition from horses to motorized transport.  Charles served in France until his return to the United States on June 2, 1919.

Charles was honorably discharged on June 6, 1919 as a private, entitled to wear one gold chevron.

Just prior to leaving for the Army Charles married Corinne Chapin of Newton, Massachusetts on April 2, 1918 in Somerville, Massachusetts.  Corinne’s parents were Halbert E. Chapin and Elizabeth Holman.  Halbert’s father was Norris E. Chapin who served with F Company, 34th Regiment Massachusetts, as part of the Grand Army of the Republic.

Charles and Corinne made their home at 52 Samoset Street during 1918, Dorchester, Massachusetts.  They raised two boys in Dorchester, Richard and Robert both graduates of Dorchester High School.  Richard served in the Army during the Korean War and Robert served in the Navy.

Charles died on January 11, 1971 at the Veterans Administration Hospital, Brockton, Massachusetts.

References:

Honorable Discharge from The United States Army, Charles W. , Enlistment Record, Inducted April 12, 1918, Camp Joseph E. Johnston, foreign service France July 10, 1918 to June 2, 1919, Motor Transport Corps. 418 Base Sec #6 (Marseille, France). Until December 19, 1918.  247th Co.124th Bn M.P.Corp until May 5, 1919. Casual to June 6, 1919.  Private 1st Class.

No. 979309, The United States Of America, Certificate of Naturalization, Department of Labor, Petition, Volume 8, Number 877, Charles Willis Crowell, Camp Joseph E. Johnston, Jacksonville, Florida.  Name, age place of residence of wife Corinne Crowell-22- Dorchester Mass.  Petition dated June 12, 1918, U.S. District Court, So. Dist. of Florida, Jacksonville.

Registry Department.-City of Boston, County of Suffolk, Commonwealth of Massachusetts, City Hall Annex.  Boston, December 13, 1920 certify that Charles W.Crowell and Corinne Chapin were married in Somerville Mass, April 2 1918, by Rev. W. M. Cassidy of Somerville.

Death Certificate, Commonwealth of Massachusetts, City Clerk’s Office, Brockton January 11, 1971.  Charles W. Crowell, WWI Veteran, place of death Veterans Administration Hospital, Brockton, Massachusetts on January 11, 1971.  Place of burial, Forest Hills Cemetery, Boston, Massachusetts.  Father Philip Crowell, Canada and mother Jeanne Sweet, Canada.

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Dorchester Illustration 2350 Clifford Burton Fletcher

Posted on April 29, 2018 by earltaylor

2350 Clifford Burton Fletcher

Dorchester Illustration no. 2350    Clifford Burton Fletcher

At the Dorchester Historical Society, we are in the process of a year-long project to commemorate the 100th anniversary of World War I. Using a collection of photographs we have of WWI Dorchester residents, we will be featuring servicemen in a number of short biographies throughout the year. At the culmination of the project, we hope to produce an online exhibit which highlights these men and their service to our country.

Our next biography features: CLIFFORD BURTON FLETCHER

Clifford B. Fletcher was born, to Willard Valentine Fletcher of Portland, Maine and Minnie C. Wetmore of New Brunswick,on February 2, 1896. The family was living on Mill Street, Dorchester and the father was listed as a stockman. There was an older brother, Roland Willard, who was born October 1, 1893 in Somerville, MA.

In the 1900 census for Boston, the mother and both boys were living on 90 Brunswick Street in Roxbury with her parents, but in the 1900 census for Somerville, perhaps taken later, the family is together in a rented home on Medford Street, Somerville. The father is a floor manager in a furniture store and the family has a servant.

By 1910, the family owned their own home at 93 Brunswick Street, Roxbury and Minnie’s mother and brother are living with them. Willard was a superintendent of a furniture store.

Clifford graduated from Phillips Brooks Grammar School in Roxbury, Mechanic Arts High School and Wentworth Institute, Boston, MA.

On June 8, 1916, Clifford, age 20 of 11 Clarkwood Street, Mattapan, enlisted in the National Guard at Boston, Mass. and became the Company Bugler on November 3, 1916. His brother Roland describes his service below.

“In June, 1916 he was elected a member of “D” Co First Corps Cadets, and after a short service with this battallion was made Company Buglerand later was promoted to Senior Bugler of the Corps. Shortly after this country entered the European Conflict, the First Corps Cadets in June 1917 finding that they would not be accepted as an Infantry Battalion volunteered in a body as an Engineer Regiment. They became in July 1917,101st U.S. Engineers, at which time my brother was promoted to the rank of Sergeant in Company. “D”. On September 24, 1917, the 101st Engineers, after a summer of hard drilling and arduous training left for overseas, going first to England, where they remained at South Hampton about two weeks and then to Havre, France. From Havre they went inland about 400 miles to the River Marne, where my brother’s Company was quartered at a small village known as Rolampont, Shortly before Christmas, 1017, while “D” Company was still stationed in Rolampont, my brother was sent alone on a special mission to Bordeaux. While performing this mission he was stricken with cerebro-spinal meningitis as the result of exposure and he died of this disease at U.S. Base Hospital No. 6, January 9, 1918. He was buried in the American Military Cemetery at Talence, his grave being No. 24 in Row 1 of Division 20.”

Do you know more about Clifford Burton Fletcher? We would love to hear from you! All material has been researched by volunteers  at the Dorchester Historical Society, so please let us know if we got something wrong or you think a piece of the story is missing!

REFERENCES:

Birth Records; FamilySearch.org

Federal Census Records, 1900, 1910; FamilySearch.org

Notes of Dr. Perkins and Clifford’s brother

Service Record; Adjutant General Office and Museum, Concord, MA

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Dorchester Illustration 2349 Swimmers Jumping Off Bridge

Posted on April 22, 2018 by earltaylor

2349 Youngsters jumping off Malibu bridge Beades Bridge

Dorchester Illustration no. 2349    Swimmers jumping off bridge

Is it spring yet?   With thoughts turning to summer and the pleasures of warmer weather, we were reminded of this photograph.  September 1, 1980, “With the temperature in the 80’s plus high humidity, youngsters cool off by jumping from the Malibu bridge, in the Dorchester section of the city.

Does anyone know who these youngsters were and where they are now?

The drawbridge was built in the late 1920s.  It was named by an Act of the Commonwealth in 1978 as the John J. Beades Bridge in memory of Senator John J. Beades of the Dorchester section of the city of Boston, who devoted his adult life to the service of the public and in particular to the needs of the people of Dorchester.

As part of the construction of the Old Colony Parkway (Morrissey Boulevard), two arms of land were made, one extending south from Savin Hill and one extending north from Commercial Point with a drawbridge to span the gap, allowing boat access to Savin Hill Bay.  Work on the land-making began in 1925, and work on the drawbridge began in 1927 with completion the following year.  The Old Colony Parkway opened in 1928.  It is 90 years old this year.

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